Col. James C. Hughes acquired this razor while being held as a Japanese Prisoner of War during World War II. Born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1888, Hughes served in the Mexican Border Conflict, World War I, and World War II. During the latter conflict, he commanded a Philippine regiment (Filipino soldiers led by American officers), which surrendered in 1942 on the Bataan peninsula. Hughes spent the next 41 months in various Japanese P.O.W. camps. The "56" printed on the paper inside the case referes to the prisoner number Hughes wore between 1942 and 1943 while in Karenko, a camp for high-ranking officers in Taiwan. He was liberated by Russian forces at Camp Hoten, Manchuria, in 1945. Hughes died in 1964 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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Col. James C. Hughes acquired this razor while being held as a Japanese Prisoner of War during World War II. Born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1888, Hughes served in the Mexican Border Conflict, World War I, and World War II. During the latter conflict, he commanded a Philippine regiment (Filipino soldiers led by American officers), which surrendered in 1942 on the Bataan peninsula. Hughes spent the next 41 months in various Japanese P.O.W. camps. The "56" printed on the paper inside the case referes to the prisoner number Hughes wore between 1942 and 1943 while in Karenko, a camp for high-ranking officers in Taiwan. He was liberated by Russian forces at Camp Hoten, Manchuria, in 1945. Hughes died in 1964 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.